FREQUENT FLYERS XPLOR'S GUIDE TO COMMON BACKYARD BUTTERFLIES - MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION - Missouri Department of ...
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M IS S O U R I D E PA RT M E N T O F CO N S E RVAT I O N
May/June 2021
xplor
FREQUENT
FLYERS
XPLOR’S GUIDE TO COMMON
BACKYARD BUTTERFLIES
Contents
Features
6 Backyard Butterflies
Use Xplor’s mini field guide to
discover 10 of Missouri’s most
common butterflies — that
are anything but ordinary.
11 Thanks, Dad!
For Father’s Day, wild critters pay
tribute to their top-notch pops.
Departments
2 Get Out!
3 What Is It?
4 Into the Wild
16 Predator vs. Prey
17 Strange but True
18 How To
20 Xplor More
Blooming spiderwort
creates a purple paradise
on Wildcat Glade near
Joplin. When a spiderwort’s
stem is sliced, a liquid flows
out that hardens into a silky
strand like a spider’s web.
by Noppadol Paothong
GOVERNOR
Michael L. Parson
CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Don C. Bedell
Steven D. Harrison
Mark L. McHenry
Wm. L. (Barry) Orscheln
DIRECTOR
Sara Parker Pauley
XPLOR STAFF
Bonnie Chasteen
Les Fortenberry
Alexis (AJ) Joyce
Angie Daly Morfeld
Noppadol Paothong
Marci Porter
Laura Scheuler
Matt Seek
David Stonner
Stephanie Thurber
Cliff White
Xplor (ISSN 2151-8351) is published bimonthly. It is a
publication of the Missouri Department of Conservation,
2901 West Truman Boulevard, Jefferson City, MO (Mailing
address: PO Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102.) Subscription
free to Missouri residents (one per household); out of state
$5 per year; out of country $8 per year. Please allow 6–8
weeks for first issue. Notification of address change must
include both old and new address (send mailing label with
the subscriber number on it) with 60-day notice. Preferred
periodical postage paid at Jefferson City, Missouri, and at
additional entry offices. Postmaster: Send correspondence
to Xplor Circulation, PO Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-
0180. Phone: 573-751-4115, ext. 3856 or 3249.
Copyright © 2021 by the Conservation Commission of the
State of Missouri. Vol. 12, No. 3. May/June 2021 issue printed
by LSC Communications in April 2021 in Liberty, Missouri.
Printed in the USA.
Send editorial comments to: Mailing address: Xplor
Magazine, PO Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180; Email:
Xplor@mdc.mo.gov. Please note: Xplor does not accept
unsolicited article queries, manuscripts, photographs, or
artwork. Any unsolicited material sent will not be returned.
Equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from
programs of the Missouri Department of Conservation is
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orientation, veteran status, or disability. Questions should
be directed to the Department of Conservation, PO Box
180, Jefferson City, MO 65102, 573-751-4115 (voice) or 800-
735-2966 (TTY), or to Chief, Public Civil Rights, Office of Civil
Rights, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW,
Washington, D.C. 20240.
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ON THE COVER
Pipevine swallowtail
by Noppadol Paothong
Get Out!
GET OUT!
FUN THINGS TO DO
AND GREAT PLACES
TO DISCOVER NATURE
Baltimore
Orioles begin
building nests.
It takes about a week
to weave their dangly,
sock-like homes.
American
toad tadpoles
turn into toadlets
and leave the water.
Nest
Go berry picking.
Gooseberries, raspberries,
and mulberries ripen in June.
Xplor summer
fun at an MDC
nature center.
Visit short.mdc.
mo.gov/Zpg to find
the center nearest you.
Keep an eye
out for black
bears if you live
in the Ozark region.
They’re browsing
for berries, too.
Looking for more ways to have fun outside? Find out about
2 i xplor Discover Nature programs in your area at mdc.mo.gov/events.
WHAT ?
What is it?
IS
IT
DON’T KNOW?
Jump to Page 21 to find out.
❶ My stems look like paddles. ❸ My spines foil pickers …
❷ My leaves are mere bumps. ❹ … who still spread my stickers.
may/June 2021 i 3
Into the Wild
Pthat
eople aren’t the only animals
Wild
love homegrown veggies.
Wild critters — some big, most
small — also adore the garden.
garden ore
getable Do M Planting flowers in your
ve veggie garden — especially native
wildflowers — is a great way to attract
bees and butterflies. These hard-working
insects will pollinate your plants, which will
help your garden make more vegetables.
k
Take a Closer Loo
Take a Closer Look
The next time you
sniff a flower, a sneaky
hunter may be hiding
right under your nose.
Crab spiders don’t
weave webs to catch
prey. Instead, they patiently
wait on flowers and rely on
camouflage to stay hidden. When
a fly buzzes by, the spider pounces.
LOO k
Snakes and other reptiles
o More sometimes soak up the
D What’s covered in warts, eats
sun in vegetable gardens.
Though they may startle
bugs, and comes out at night? you, they’re actually a
It’s a toad, and you can invite gardener’s best friend
these helpful amphibians to because they eat rodents
live in your garden by building and other garden pests.
a toad abode. Place a chipped
clay pot upside down on the
ground and top it with dirt or
moss to keep it cool inside.
Speckled kingsn
ak e
4 i xplor
?
You K no
You
Did w?
w
Did
Kno
e
Do Mor
You might
think all bumblebees
are the same. But Putting up a bluebird box or wren
Missouri has more than 10 house near your garden is a
different kinds of these fuzzy, fantastic idea. The birds’ bubbly
buzzy insects. To learn how to songs will keep you company
tell one from another, buzz while you’re pulling weeds, and
over to MoBumble parent birds will pluck tons of
beeAtlas.org. insects from your garden to
feed their hungry chicks.
k
Take a Closer Loo
Take a Closer Look
To gather pollen from plants like
tomatoes and peppers, bumblebees use
“buzz pollination.” First, a bee clamps
down on a flower with its jaws. (The
bite marks are called “bee kisses.”)
Then the bee vibrates its flight muscles,
which causes a loud buzz. The buzz
travels through the flower and shakes
out pollen like salt from a shaker.
h at Happened Here?
W The back of this
What Happened Here?
tomato-munching LOO k
caterpillar is covered Eastern cottontails may
with cocoons. Inside hide their babies in
each cocoon is a overgrown rows of
tiny baby wasp. The vegetables. A waist-high
baby wasps eat the fence made of chicken
caterpillar’s insides wire will usually keep
as they grow. When mama rabbit and
the babies turn into her hungry bunnies
adults and buzz away, separated from your
the caterpillar dies. lettuce and carrots.
Hornworm: Stephen Bonk / Shutterstock.com
may/June 2021 i 5
BACKYARD Use Xplor’s mini
field guide to
BUTTERFLIES
discover 10
of Missouri’s
most common
butterflies — that
are anything but
ordinary.
by Bonnie Chasteen
ail
wt
w allo
n es
evi
Pip
W
hat’s your favorite
butterfly? The big, bold
pipevine swallowtail?
Or maybe the tiny tailed-
blue? Whatever their size, butterflies
But First, Make This Field Guide
are basically insects. They have six ❶ Cut out the next two pages
legs and two pairs of wings. But along the dotted lines.
everything from their life cycle to
❷ Fold each cutout down the middle.
❸ Stack the cutouts with the pages in
their eye-popping beauty makes them
seem like magical creatures from numerical order.
another realm. Let’s get to know 10
Missouri butterflies you’re likely to see ❹ Staple the cutouts together along the
middle between pages 8 and 9.
enchanting your backyard this summer.
❺ You’re ready to search for butterflies!
6 i xplor
You Discover
tiger
Eastern tail
swallow
BUT TERFLIES
a
Zebr ow tail
swall
Great spangled fritillary
mdc.mo.gov
A Mini Field Guide
to 10 Lovely Lepidoptera
16 1
Picky Abo ut Plan ts
Cabbage White
Bet you didn’t know this:
Butterflies can taste with their
feet! Why? So they know
immediately what kinds of
plants they’ve landed on. This
helps them quickly find the kind
Mil
kw
of host plants their eggs and Mo ed
e
na
rch
caterpillars need to thrive. c ate
You probably know that rp
illa
Cabbage white butterfly and tiger swallowtail: Donna Brunet;
r
monarch caterpillars can only
Cabbage white caterpillar: © Clearvista | Dreamstime.com
survive on milkweed plants.
Your parents may Other kinds of butterflies have
complain about their own host plants, too.
this butterfly’s Throughout this guide, you’ll
caterpillars, which learn the kinds of plants
gobble up garden each featured butterfly
cabbages. But the needs for its eggs and
adult is a nectar-sipping caterpillars. Planting
ail
host plants will keep wt
pollinator, so it helps out sw a ll o
butterflies fluttering Easter n ti g er
in the garden, too.
around your yard,
Accidentally introduced from summer after
Europe more than 100 years ago, summer. le
Purp flower
this winter-hardy butterfly is one cone
of the first to appear in spring.
14 3
Scaled for Flight
Clouded Sulphur
Butterflies and moths belong to a
group of insects called Lepidoptera
(leh-puh-dahp-tehr-uh). This means
“scale wing.” Scales are the colored
“dust” that rubs off on your fingers
when you touch a butterfly’s wing.
These scales protect and insulate the
beautiful bugs and help the flow of air
along their wings as they fly.
© Charles Shapiro | Dreamstime.com
More Than Monarchs Migr ate Adults are easy
Clouded sulphur caterpillar: Kevin Collison / Shutterstock.com
Monarchs are famous for flying from to please and will
central Mexico to Canada and back sip nectar from
Monarchs
every year. Turns out some other in Mexico clovers, milkweeds,
kinds of butterflies fly south for the dandelions, and
winter, too, although not as far. thistles. Caterpillars
How do other butterflies survive love peas, beans,
winter? They stay snug in their eggs and clover.
or cocoons, often nestled in leaf
litter. This is why it’s important to These wide-spread pollinators
leave fall leaves in your yard until are on the menu for birds and
spring. Last fall’s leaves may harbor other insect-eaters.
this spring’s butterflies! Spicebush
swallowtail
chrysalis in
2 winter 15
Masters of Change
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
A butterfly starts life as
a tiny egg laid on or near
a particular kind of plant.
After a few days, a hungry
little caterpillar pops out.
It chomps and chomps its
host plant, growing and
changing its appearance
until it’s a mature larva.
Then it attaches to a twig
or other sturdy structure
and sheds its skin. The Adults sip nectar
remaining soft body forms from blazing star,
a protective shell called a buttonbush, and
chrysalis or a cocoon. other blooming
plants. Look for
the bright green
caterpillars on apple,
cherry, and tulip trees.
When disturbed, the tiger
swallowtail caterpillar rears back
and sticks out a stinky, orange,
forked gland that puts off predators.
4 13Black Swallowtail Inside the chrysalis,
the larva turns to goo.
Over the next several
days, different groups of
cells change the goo into
eyes, wings, and other adult
body parts. When it’s ready, the Mo
nar
ch
butterfly wriggles out. It pauses,
letting its wet, wrinkled wings
“bloom” into their final shape.
Then, it flies off to find a mate
Adults visit just and start its life cycle — known
about any kind of as metamorphosis (met-uh-more-
flower and often fo-sis) — all over again.
sip moisture
from mud puddles.
Look for eggs
and caterpillars on
members of the carrot
family, including dill.
Some gardeners plant extra dill
to keep black swallowtails from
laying eggs on their carrot plants.
12 5
Common Buckeye
Sachem Skipper
or or
M ig r at M ig r at
Sachem skipper butterfly, common buckeye caterpillar: Donna Brunet; Sachem skipper
caterpillar: Charles T. Bryson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org
This grass-loving Daisies, milkweeds,
butterfly is and mints attract
common in late the adults, and
summer. You caterpillars feed
might see its dark on many kinds of
green caterpillars plants, including the
in lawn grasses. common plantain,
which grows in nearly
everyone’s yard.
Skippers are a kind of
butterfly named for Like monarchs, these butterflies
their skipping flight. and their caterpillars harbor yucky-
tasting toxins from their host plants.
10 7American Lady or
Eastern Tailed-Blue
M ig r at
Adults love thistles Common in
and other flowers prairies and yards,
but will also sip adults flutter low
tree sap and the to the ground
juices of rotting looking for small
fruit — yum! flowers to sip.
Caterpillars live inside Caterpillars feed on
tents they build out of the flowers, seeds,
silk and eat leaves of and leaves of clovers.
sunflower-family members.
Adults spend the night in
When seeking mates, American places where they basked
lady males will defend their in the sunlight.
territories against other males.
6 11
Monarch
Hackberry Emperor
or
American lady caterpillar: Karan A. Rawlins, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org; Eastern tailed-blue caterpillar:
M ig r at
While the hackberry Watch for adults Tom Murray / bugguide.net / CC BY-ND-NC 1.0; Hackberry emperor butterfly and caterpillar: Donna Brunet
tree may host flitting among
this butterfly’s milkweeds, asters,
caterpillars, the and sunflowers.
adults have a taste Check milkweed
for salt and may land stems and leaves
on your arm to sample for tiny white eggs
your sweat. But don’t feel or striped caterpillars.
too special. Other favorite flavors
include animal droppings and mud. Keep monarchs coming back to your
yard every year by planting native
The forked features on the
milkweeds. Check for local native
caterpillar’s head resemble
plant sales at GrowNative.org.
miniature deer antlers.
8 9!
nk s,
d
T ha
Da
Wild critters don’t make
Father’s Day cards for
their top-notch pops. But
what if they did? Here’s
what they might say ...
by Matt Seek
Dear Pop,
Dear Dad, Most kids love
al hunts so
No other anim mily. piggyback rides fr
food for his fa om
hard to find to their dad, but yo
u go
you wiggle in
I’ve watched ro den ts, the extra mile. Ev
er since
to nab
narrow nooks ect bird
Mom glued her eg
gs to your
ees to insp
scamper up tr to
back — all 150 of
them! —
e underwater
nests, and div rrain
you’ve been carryi
ng us around
u’re an all-te
catch fish. Yo wherever you go.
Staying on
s! Even when
American mink: robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo
predator, Pop ting,
the move makes
it hard for
ted from hun
you’re exhaus to
pesky predators
to eat us. In a
the strength
you still find too tired
few weeks, I’ll ha
tch and swim
carry me if I’m away forever. Bu
t before I do,
my favorite
to walk. But I wanted to let yo
t me ride u know how
is when you le much I appreciate
when you you!
on your back
That’s Love, Little Giant
go swimming! me!
Water Bug
Love, Lit tle
k
American Min
may/June 2021 i 11Dear Dad,
Keeping Mom fed while she Dear Pa,
sat on our nest must have rry fathers
I know most fu
been a ton of work. After all, nd to raise
don’t stick arou
she’s about a third bigger than I’m glad you
their kids. But
you! And when my brothers s all the help
did. Mom need
and sisters and I hatched, you e keeps having
she can get! Sh
ere five in my
had even more hungry beaks babies. There w
ere her third
to feed. But I love watching lit ter, and we w
you dive from high in the ! I like when
lit ter this year
oom me and
sky — WHOOSH! — to knock you help her gr
e scruff
unsuspecting birds out of carry me by th
n we
the air for our dinner. of my neck whe
w nest.
Love, move to a ne
Little Love, Little
Peregrine Prairie Vole
Falcon
Dear Father, ngry coyote
ctor I k now! If a hu
You’re the b
es t a away and
r n es t, you skit ter
e to ou quite
gets too clos bro k en w in g. You put on
ave a ing.
pretend to h u t a n d dra gging your w
shing abo score an
an act, thra th in k s it ’s going to
coy ot e ading it
The gullible th e w h ile, you’re le
ut all we’re
easy meal, b e ot h er chicks. When
an d th
far from me er, your win
g magically
ou t of d a n g
to
you fly away www o
...
“heals,” and A
, Father! s
I wa e!
s
safety. Bravo cut
Killdeer
Love, Lit tle
12 i xplorDear
Dad,
I know
e
you wer
in g
worry
y safety
about m
re I was
long befo would
hy else
born. W ferent
o u bu ild 12 dif one of
y
d only use
Dear Papa, ne s ts a n extra
says the tors
them ? M om
e ep preda
e decoy
s to k e they
Most humans think only e. I hop
mama nests ar rr ea l h o m keep
mammals make milk. Bu
t I know that’s o m fi n ding ou in g so much to
f r rd o
not true. Ever since I ha hanks fo
tched, you’ve work! T ren
Sedge W
been feeding me milk. An ily safe .
that you do. Mom can’t
d it’s good our fam Love , L it tle
make enough
for me and my sister! Wh
en I’m
hungry, I stick my beak
inside yours
and a yummy liquid flo
ws down my
throat. It comes from yo
ur crop, that
pouch at the end of your
food tube. It
must be good for me. My
feathers are
already starting to sprou
t!
Peregrine falcons: Markus Varesvuo / Naturepl.com; Prairie vole: Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott / Mindenpictures.com;
Love, Lit tle
Mourning Dove
Mourning dove: Robert M. Vera / Alamy Stock Photo; Coyote: Geoffrey Kuchera | Dreamstime.com
op?
wl ’s it going, P
Ho ent I
yful par
ch a pla ce to
You’re su u p the chan
p a s s y
couldn’t d you pla
a jok e . I’m gla y ou
crack . When
so much
with me e on your
back
o u n c I know
let me p y o ur ears,
w o n nger
and che g m e get stro
elp in prey,
you’re h m e to catch
g
and train
in s. Yum!
t s a n d rabbit
like rod e n ing with
to go hunt
I can’t w
a it ything
a n tr y out ever
c
you, so I ught me
.
you’ve ta
Love,
yote
Lit tle Co
may/June 2021 i 13,
Dear Daddy Mom
h a d y ou r w ings full since
e
I know you’v families, mom
and dad
t bi rd
left. Fo r m os You’ve had to
to raise babies.
work to g et h er building the
rs elf. You finished
do it all by y ou ed out
th e eg gs . You stretch
nest. You sa
t on n and cold
sh ie ld u s from hot su
your wings
to e shoreline
d a y, y ou lead us to th
rain. Ea ch we can
lo ok ou t for danger so
and keep a insects.
sn a p p in g up yummy
t, d
skit ter abou e parent, an
e h a rd being a singl
Dear Dad, It mu st b
ream look know how m
uch
n g bea k- first into a st I want you to
You make p
lun gi scary! ou do.
is hard. And everything y
ing for d in n er o I appreciate dpiper
easy! But div ut I was sooo Spotted San
t to d o it at first. B in n ow ove, Lit tle
I didn’t w a n
that dead m L
ry! W h en you dropped bout it.
hu n g
r, I d id n ’t even think a
into the wate , an d I
blin g tu m my took over
My rum e fish, folded
y beak at th
just aimed m Thanks for
y w in gs, a nd ... dived.
m er.
patient teach
being such a fish er
Belted King
Love, Lit tle
Dear Papa,
Belted kingfisher: Ray Hennessy / shutterstock.com; Spotted sandpiper: © Birgitt Thume / Animals Animals/Earth Scenes
t-nice names,
ow pe op le ca ll you all sorts of no
I kn me, you’ll
snot ot ter. But to
like devil dog and ople call you
ted dad. Would pe
always be a devo fought with
ew how hard you
names if they kn live under?
he llben ders to win this rock we
othe r e babies
yo u gu ar de d Mom’s eggs and th
Or that two
them for nearly
that hatched from , Hey Dad,
knew you like I do remember
months? If they
ge your name to when I was
I bet they’d chan this small?!?
r” !
“super salamande
ender
Love, Little Hellb
14 i xplorDear Pa, sweep
your tail to
After using ’s eggs, you
went
M om
out a n es t fo r er our nest
. Y ou st ood guard ov
a fin furt h er schools
e a n d m y siblings from
to protect m you swished
in g sunfish. And
of eg g- slu rp over again —
er u s — over and
your ta il ov provide
e fr om g rowing and
to keep a lga T h ank s
y g en fo r u s to breathe.
plenty of ox er!
n-tastic fath
for being a fi Lit tle Catfish
Love,
Dear Father, ry this
ks for w or king so hard to bu
Than ard it took
we live on. I he
dead bird that gging!
hole night of di
you nearly a w t from
th an ks for feeding me mea
A nd ’s nearly
I get hungry. It
the bird when re for its
an insect to ca
unheard of for pa rents
rarer for both
young. It ’s even ess you and
to pitch in. I gu
ordinary!
Mom aren’t so
erican
Love, Little Am
Burying eetle
B
Dear Pops, as you!
u p, I h op e I’m as brave
When I grow the nest, you
stayed a
t on
While M om sa safe. If a fox
s aw a y to keep her
few wad d le scared
w a n d er ed too close, you
or raccoon and honks.
ay w it h a ngry hisses
it aw slings
r lit tle floc k of fuzzy go
Once ou us to a
, y ou a n d Mom herded
hatched water kept
earb y m a rs h where the
n
predators.
us safe from se
Canada Goo
Love, Lit tle
may/June 2021 i 15The struggle to survive isn't always a fair fight
N R E D S TA RT
This
issue :
AM E R I C A
American Redstart vs
Planthopper
illustrated by
David BesengerVS PLANTH OPPE R
Pop and Hop
Jump Scare
When spooked, a planthopper makes
A redstart fans its wings and tail an explosive hop, rocketing out of
to expose Halloween-colored reach from snapping bird beaks.
feathers. The sudden flash
of color startles insects and
flushes them out of hiding.
Leaf Lookalike
The leaflike veins
and green color of a
planthopper’s wings
make the sneaky bug
all but invisible as it
crawls along a leaf.
Tweezer Beak
A sharp beak helps the hungry bird pluck
insects from leaves while netlike whiskers
And the winner is…
funnel flying bugs into its mouth.
planthoppers from hiding. Some of the bugs pop off to safety. But many end up in the bird’s belly.
16 i xplor The agile redstart hops quickly from branch to branch, flicking its flashy feathers to flushStrange but
True
ide to all the
Your g
s
u
ua l, un iqu e ,
und u believable
an Un ure
es on in nat
o
stuff that g
Fireflies flicker to attract a boyfriend or girlfriend.
But biologist believe their flashing backsides have
another purpose: The blinking may serve as a signal to
hungry bats that the firefly is toxic and shouldn’t be eaten.
“Birdbrain” isn’t an insult if Once it forms its protective
you’re a crow. The brainy cocoon, a caterpillar’s
black birds can count, solve body quickly dissolves into a
simple puzzles, and use tools gooey soup of cells and proteins.
to gather food. They even Special cells act like a recipe
recognize human faces book to remix the goo and form
and learn to approach legs, wings, antennas, and other
people who feed them butterfly body parts.
and avoid those
who bother them.
Now you see me. Now you don’t. Gray
treefrogs have a handy trick to hide from
Cliff swallows gather hungry hunters. The snack-sized amphibians can
mouthfuls of mud — but not to eat. change color — turning from
(That would be gross.) The birds gravel-gray to bark-brown to
use the blobs to build nests on leafy-green — to match
bluffs, bridges, and barns. It whatever they are
takes about 1,000 beakfuls crawling on.
of mud — and as many
flights to the mud puddle
— to finish a single nest.
Eastern coachwhips can slither swifter than any Even busy bees need to catch some
snake in the Show-Me State. Compared to humans, their Z’s. Comb through a patch of flowers
top speed of 3.5 mph isn’t impressive. But they’re quick at sunrise, and you might find a bee
enough to outrun — oops, out-slither — all curled up in the petals, sound
but the fastest predators asleep. For most species, it’s
and prey. male bees who sleep outside.
Females usually return to
the nest each night.
may/June 2021 i 17How To
Make a
qu irrel Call
S
Coaxing a bushy-tailed
acorn-muncher down from
the treetops into viewing range
is simple. Just make this easy,
homemade call and learn
to speak squirrel.
eed
Here’s what you n
• Popsicle stick
• Measuring tape or ruler
• Marker
• Clear tape
• Plastic film (such as a
clear report cover)
• Scissors
• Pocketknife (optional)
• Wood screw
18 i xploru do
Here’s what yo
Cut or break a popsicle stick
1
in half so that you get two
sticks that are the same
length. You can place the
2
stick on the edge of a
table and push down
to break it. If you want
a smoother edge, use
sturdy scissors or a Pull out
pocketknife to cut the 2 inches of
stick in half. tape and wrap it around one of the
sticks about a quarter of an inch
from the cut end. Do the same
thing for the other stick.
Use scissors to cut a thin
strip of plastic film about
the same length and
3
width as the sticks.
5
4
Sandwich the film
between the two Pull out
sticks. Be sure the film 3 inches of
is pinched between the tape. Wrap it
layers of tape. around both sticks about a quarter of an inch
from the cut ends to hold the call together.
Squirrels make a variety of barks, chatters, whistles,
ow to use your call and squeals. You can use your call to make two different squirrelly
H sounds. Both will cause nearby squirrels to creep closer to see what’s up.
Squirrel Distress Call Gnawing Sound
Squirrels make high-pitched squeals and barking When squirrels gnaw on
calls when they’re scared or annoyed. To mimic hickory nuts, walnuts, and
these sounds, hold the taped end of your call and acorns, their teeth make
blow gently between the sticks. If you don’t get a sound a grinding sound on the
at first, try turning the call over. Also try squeezing the nuts’ shells. To mimic this
taped end of the call to slightly spread the sticks apart. sound, run the edge of the
This will change the call’s pitch. Experiment and practice, popsicle stick down the
and soon you’ll sound like an upset squirrel. threads of a wood screw.
may/June 2021 i 19xplor morXplor More
a mpp i n
ing C
rg
acC r
k-Upa
s
c k - u p s
C
Cam
Whoops!
Whoever wrote these stories left out a few words. Fill in each list,
then match each answer to its corresponding number in the story.
Some answers will be used more than once.
Campfire Cooking
Campfire Cooking
1. Adjective 11. Food
2. Color 12. Food
3. Food (plural) 13. Name of a spice
4. Taste 14. Color
5. Animal 15. Number
6. Name of a holiday 16. Adjective
7. Food 17. Color
8. Verb ending in -ing 18. Animal (plural)
9. Type of tree 19. Body part
10. Adjective 20. Emotion
Cooking over a campfire is ( 1 )! My favorite meal to fix is ( 2 ) ( 3 ) with ( 4 ) sauce. It smells like
wet ( 5 ), but it tastes like ( 6 ) ( 7 ).
To cook the sauce, you must build a ( 8 ) fire. Use wood from ( 9 ) trees so the fire will be ( 10 ).
Add ( 11 ), ( 12 ), and ( 13 ) into a pan. Place the pan on glowing ( 14 ) coals, and stir the mixture
exactly ( 15 ) times. If you stir too much, the sauce will turn ( 16 ).
Cook the ( 3 ) directly over the fire until they turn ( 17 ). If you accidentally drop the ( 3 ) in
the dirt, don’t worry. Just fling them into the woods for ( 18 ) to eat.
The next time you go camping, try this recipe. I guarantee it will make your ( 19 ) ( 20 ).
20 i xplorre Fun in the Mud
Fun in the Mud
1. Exclamation (e.g., Wow!) 13. Adjective
2. Person’s first name 14. Emotion
3. Noun 15. Animal sound
4. Person’s last name 16. Loud noise
5. Animal 17. Body part
6. A spreadable food 18. Color
7. Loud noise 19. Taste
8. Body part 20. Food
9. Adjective 21. Number
10. Color 22. Adjective
11. Verb ending in -ing 23. Animal (plural)
12. Noun 24. Body part
“( 1 )!” I turned around just in time to see my friend ( 2 ) trip over a ( 3 ) and go tumbling
toward ( 4 )’s Creek. Like a ( 5 ) greased with ( 6 ), he slid down the bank until ... ( 7 )!
He landed ( 8 )-first in ( 9 ) ( 10 ) mud at the edge of the water.
When I quit ( 11 ), I yelled down: “Do you want me to toss you a ( 12 )?”
“Nope,” ( 2 ) yelled back. “That was ( 13 )! You try it.”
With a ( 14 ) ( 15 ), I dove down the bank. ( 16 )! I landed ( 17 )-first in the mud
next to ( 2 ). I sat up and spit out a glob of ( 18 ) goo that tasted like ( 19 ) ( 20 ). Yum!
We must have slid down that bank ( 21 ) times. Afterward, we were covered in so much mud, we
looked like ( 22 ) ( 23 ). And though I washed and washed, to this day, I still find mud in my ( 24 ).
If you want to do each story more than once,
photocopy the pages before filling in the lists.
WhAT ? IS The eastern prickly pear’s thick pads are
actually flattened stems. Tiny, soft, cone-shaped
What
Is It? IT bumps on new pads are the cactus’s true leaves.
At the base of each leaf bump, spines and tiny,
— FROM PAGE 3 — hairlike bristles form. These make it hard for
animals and people to pick the cactus’s yellow flowers and juicy red fruits. At
the same time, bristles stick to feet and fur, helping spread the cactus to dry,
desertlike places statewide. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/field-guide.
may/June 2021 i 21Subscribe online
mdc.mo.gov/xplor
Free to Missouri households
CRIT TER CORNER Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetle
It’s hard to tell if this daredevil is landing on or launching from the petals of a purple prairie coneflower. One thing’s
for sure — it’s probably not far from a swamp milkweed plant. True to its name, it lives near, eats, and lays eggs on
swamp milkweed leaves. This explains why it’s marked like monarchs and other bugs that lay their eggs on bad-tasting
milkweeds. They all have bright colors that warn bug-eaters to bug off! Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/field-guide.You can also read
